Employers offer group benefits to attract talent, retain employees, motivate workers, and increase productivity. Group benefits play an essential role in your employees’ overall compensation. Companies can invest a great deal of time and money in planning and executing a benefits strategy every year. These efforts can be wasted if employees do not know what group benefits are offered. It is important to understand how to communicate your group benefits plan.
Your employees are less likely to use their group benefits if they don’t know what they are. Provide them with an employee booklet that contains all the information about your specific plan. It can be printed or made digitally available to employees. Your company may have different booklets for different classes of employees based on coverage levels. If the information is lengthy, provide a quick reference guide to make it easier for employees to learn about their benefits.
Include information about the group benefits you offer in your job descriptions and careers page. When you are onboarding employees, educate them on the benefits available to them. Provide new hires with a checklist to sign up for benefits during the onboarding process and instruct managers to follow up on this part of the onboarding process.
Managers should talk with employees under their supervision about benefits as part of total employee compensation. Train them to use group benefits as tools for providing support to employees, for example, health insurance or time off work. In one-on-one meetings and performance reviews, managers should be comfortable discussing every benefit included in the total compensation package.
Establish an internal hub where employees can easily manage their benefits. A digital platform can make it easier for employees to access and use their group benefits. They can use technology to check coverage, submit claims, track usage, etc. Most people do not enjoy filling out paperwork. A digital platform can make your employees more willing to use their benefits.
Employees may fail to take advantage of certain features even with an overall understanding of their group benefits package. Use internal communications to highlight less used benefits included in your plan. Bring them up in staff meetings or send out emails to remind employees to take advantage of the benefits you are offering. One idea is to send out quarterly emails listing specific cases of use for certain benefits. Sharing stories and ideas can encourage employees to use their benefits.
This is the best way to gauge how effective communications about group benefits have been. Get feedback from employees before your annual review of the plan for the coming year. This can help determine whether changes need to be made to your group benefits package.
Our knowledgeable agent can review your benefits package with you. We can help you create a comprehensive plan that helps your company attract and retain the best employees.